Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, accounting for upwards of 900,000 deaths annually in our country and many millions more worldwide. NYU School of Medicine has identified improved cardiovascular health as one of its key strategic priorities for the next decade. Toward that end, the School of Medicine is Investing in faculty, facilities and infrastructure enhancements to support the continued growth of a world-class program in cardiovascular research, education, and patient care. As part of the NIH NHLBI ARRA/P30 mechanism, this application requests support for a start-up package to hire a Newly-Independent Investigator who will join our Division of Cardiology (Core Center) and the Cardiovascular Research Center. Following a national search, we have identified an extraordinarily promising newly-independent investigator poised to make Important contributions to cardiovascular health through fundamental and translational research in an area of great relevance to the NHLBI - vascular biology and disease. The new investigator will receive a tenure-track appointment in the Departments of Medicine and Cell Biology, and join our Sackler Graduate Program in Biological Sciences. He will join a vibrant research environment within the Division of Cardiology and the broader NYU community, with expertise that ranges from fundamental laboratory-based studies to patient-oriented clinical research. He will be provided with a generous start-up package designed to assure his success as a newly-independent investigator and support his evolution into a productive established investigator, including salary, programmatic and pilot project support for a period of no less than four years. Finally, the newly-independent investigator will benefit from a highly interactive and nurturing environment, with formal mentoring provided by senior investigators with a strong track-record of successful career development and collaboration. The recruitment of this new investigator will most certainly "contribute to the building of a community of multidisciplinary researchers focusing on areas of biomedical research that are relevant" to the mission of the NHLBI.